Windows Alert

  • Thread starter TheTreeSpyder
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TheTreeSpyder

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i read a lot of stuff; get emails and several paid newsletters about computer junk. msPatches etc. come out regularly. But, this one is looking different; and i think should be given more attention. This patch is out of sequence, as it is being given high importance, and it is rare that i see as many immediate bulletins. This is being declared by ms as an emergency, critical update. Especially those without a firewall or those with firewall with printer sharing turned on. Vista does give more protection through the User Accounts Protection (thingy we were talking about risks of turning off lately) than xp for this. win2000, server2003 and all versions of xp are particularly vulnerable though. This is also one that if infected with a user carrying admin rights, there is more risk. The only user level privileges that allow kernel mode access anymore are drivers etc.; that this worx the path to kernel through. If infected, it might take an OSRI(operating system reinstall) to get right. This is a total wipeout of drive, and should even extend to any diagnostic or rebuild partitions that oem builders might include, then use the slower formatting, not quick format after deleting and remaking partitions on drive; or you might be wasting your time/ risking reinfection.

http://www.marctalkstech.com/october-update-2008.html

i've had several people still having problems with XPsp3. The best way i've found to handle trouble with this is to download, disconnect from everything (including network/internet), then run (service pack 3) without av etc. turned on. This gives better chance to finish the sp install, with less interferance from anti-virus, internet, printer or hub problems etc.
 
Who has windows but doesn't get automatic updates any more? Microsoft makes it very difficult to disable auto updates, so I guess this notification is just for the people with unregistered copies?
:?
 
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Ummmmmm; i guess i've learnt(notice how it rhymes wit'burnt) not to trust auto-pilot. Like m-any things; sometimes the best solution isn't the sl/easiest or generically automated, but rather the tailored IMLHO.

My response to msPatchTuesday; is a notify me, and me to act on myPatchThursday, failing that, the weekend. Now this is to allow others to report difficulties etc. But, also to prevent an auto reboot (mostly on critical updates) by defaulting to that after ms asks the non-occupied sys if it is okay to reboot several times. This could lead to losing any chance unsaved work, stopping a long download, system tests, monitoring apps etc. i specifically recommend not having autoUpdates on, on portables where the wake on LAN could get turned on and have the thing boot up and run when in it's carrying case etc., resulting in possible overheating etc. There are virtually an infinite variety of system hdw/sft configurations, all can't be tested by micromouse, and; then there is the human factor. Even though we couldn't make better programs personally, other peoples did did make the programs etc.

Mostly besides letting others be test pilots, i like to occupy or be in charge during updates, so that if anything goes wrong, i immediately can relate it to the timeline of the updates. And also, if it ain't gonna boot, i can IMMEDIATELY try bootLKG -Last Know Good settings that worked from F8(fate has brought me hear key) b4 anyone else tries to reboot 30x. Updates can be removed by add/remove programs (from control panel) with the show updates option checked. Large updates are best downloaded, then run so nothing funny happens on network during installation or unzipping.


You can also turn the winUpdates off totally and use a more general update agent like Secunia. A major positive to that strategy is you get notifications of other updates that could be security orientated too. Most notably, most importantly paying attention to any player updates (Flash, Java, Quicktime, players for browsers, adding to that adobeReader) because of the amount of active code in downloaded files putt in said players. Therefore a downloaded movie, pdf etc. that was harmful b4 updating the player/reader can have whatever port etc. closed in the updated player. So, just because something doesn't give you problems, doesn't mean it is harmless to someone without updated player. This can be major disadvantage to sys purposefully not on net (kid's computer, security sys, There are forums for the bad guys, that share how to screw others up. They even pass around beginner programs, that they build a virus or other malware, by just checking off what they want it to do, how they want it to be passed around, and then once local, how they want it to attempt infiltration.

Sorry, but i've helped a lot of people, and have seen some real horror stories beyond my own.
 
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